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Gustavus Adolphus to Send Five to NCAA Track and Field Championships

Five track and field athletes will represent Gustavus Adolphus College at the 2007 NCAA Division III Championships this weekend.

Gustavus Adolphus College will send five athletes to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 24-26 in Oshkosh, Wis. Lisa Brown (javelin), Janna Castellano (pole vault), and Sari Lindeman (triple jump) will compete for the Gustavus women, while Tanner Miest (110 hurdles) and Andy Klaers (discus) will represent the Golden Gustie men.

The final qualifiers were announced Sunday afternoon.

Brown (So., Lake Crystal, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial), the defending national champion in the javelin throw, enters the meet with the fifth-best throw in Division III this year. She posted a distance of 149 feet, 9 inches at the Meet of the Unsaintly May 4 and also won the MIAC title in the event earlier this month. Brown will compete Saturday, May 26 at noon.

Castellano (Sr., Blaine, Minn./Totino-Grace), the 2007 MIAC indoor and outdoor champion in the pole vault, advances to the NCAA outdoor meet for the second time in her career. She also finished ninth in 2005. Castellano took fourth at this year’s NCAA indoor meet and qualified ninth for this weekend’s outdoor national meet with a school-record effort of 12-1 1/2 at the Lee Krough Invitational in April. The women’s pole vault competition is Thursday, May 24 at 5 p.m.

Lindeman (Jr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) posted the 14th-best qualifying effort in the triple jump this season by recording a distance of 37-8 at the MIAC Championships. The mark tied her own school record in the event. Competition in the women’s triple jump is Saturday, May 26 at 2 p.m.

Miest (Sr., Willmar, Minn./New London-Spicer), who earned All-America honors after finishing eighth in the 110 hurdles at the 2006 NCAA Championships, qualified for the 2007 national meet with a winning time of 14.58 seconds at the MIAC Championships. Miest won his third consecutive league title in the event and was just 0.05 seconds off his own school record. His time ranks sixth-best in the field of 17. Trials for the 110 hurdles will be held Friday, May 25 at 4:40 p.m., while the final will be held Saturday, May 26 at approximately 1:45 p.m.

Klaers (Sr., Loretto, Minn./Delano), the 2007 MIAC outdoor champion in the hammer and runner-up in the discus, qualified for the NCAA Championships in the discus with his season-best effort of 162-8 at the MIAC Championships. Klaers’ mark ranks 12th of the 17 competitors that qualified. Competition in the men’s discus will be Thursday, May 24 at 6 p.m.

The Gustavus Adolphus women’s track and field team finished second at the recent MIAC Championships, while the men’s team took third. Each team also placed at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. The women tied for 33rd place with five points behind Janna Castellano’s fourth-place finish in the pole vault, while the men tied for 28th place, also with five points, as Andy Klaers took fourth in the weight throw. Both Castellano and Klaers earned All-America honors for their efforts.

UW-Oshkosh will host the NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship on May 24-26 at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh, Wis.